


A Different Star

by sayum



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Before Dawn - Freeform, Nearly Dawn (05:35), No Dialogue, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:11:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5121212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayum/pseuds/sayum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam (Mines) 05:35<br/>Her head is clearest when she is climbing. Even in a night of terror and chaos, Sam finds a moment to climb and reflect on the events of the night so far, especially the ones concerning Mike.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Star

     SAM  
          MINES  
          05:35

     She had never seen that side of him. Sure, Mike had always been brave among other things. This Mike though. He had gone beyond brave into something that unnerved her in some ways and comforted her in others. When they reunited below the Washington’s house he looked like he had been wandering the mountain for longer than hours. Dirty and bruised. Tired yet restless and alert. He was missing fingers and he hardly seemed to notice. At the time, Sam had thought how calm he seemed was a result of pure adrenaline. Now she knew better.

     Climbing was her safe place. Sam had only been doing it for a couple of years, having tried it out with Hannah on a complete whim one weekend in their junior year of high school. Ever since then Sam had spent her free time at climbing gyms and retreats with other rock wall enthusiasts. She had never in her life felt so alive as when she was far above the common ground humanity shared. It was liberating; mind, body, and soul. With every little step she could feel her head clearing. Even in these circumstances with the lives of her friends hanging in balance.

     She was the only one not hanging then. Even when her feet felt nothing but the chilly mountain air. She was free. Free to think and think she did. Her mind did not go to the others below as they turned back toward the lodge. They did not go to their missing companions or what little hope there was left to see Josh alive and well. Her mind did not even go to Hannah and Beth, the two cogs still turning the hand of a racing clock that had followed them all for one whole year. Sam’s mind went to Mike.

     Mike! Of all people. Not even his present state of unknown health and safety. It was Mike through the bars, Mike in the lodge, Mike pulling a gun on Emily with a steady hand and a gleam in his eye. How was it that this Mike was the same one she had known all through high school? The Mike that drifted from girlfriend to girlfriend without a second thought. The Mike who would not shy away from bullying and was inconsiderate by nature. The jock. The student body president. Homecoming king. How was _this_ the Mike that Hannah had talked about as if he was some benevolent god, even when everyone else knew better?

      _Was_ it the same Mike?

     The look in his eye that had always held mischief and laughter was now home to a different star. He was a storm before it released its fury, crackling and raging just under the cover of clouds. He was darkest now but Sam felt, ledge by ledge, that he was just minutes from releasing a furious light. _Righteous anger._ Yet it was tangled in guilt. That only made him more beautiful, in the way sunsets and art were beautiful. He was best praised from an observational point of view. A distance had to be kept for most. It was safer that way. Too close and he would become all too real and all too harmful; mind, body, and soul.

     Perhaps Hannah had it right back then, despite the heartache and tragedy to follow.

     Perhaps Sam had never really known Mike at all.

**Author's Note:**

> A little tribute to Sam and Mike. I think they are both intriguing characters and I plan on writing about them more.  
> I wrote this one in a single and I am posting the first draft probably as the final. It was a good way to warm up my head.  
> Comments and constructive critique welcome!


End file.
